For a whole semester, students kept a running record of two things: how often they were tempted, and how hard they fought it. At the end, the ones who had reached their goals were the ones who had met fewer temptations. How hard anybody fought made no difference at all.
So much for willpower. A craving is not hunger. Hunger builds slowly and any decent meal settles it. A craving arrives suddenly and demands one food, one taste, one texture. Demand is the right word: "crave" comes from Old English crafian, to demand.
It is at its strongest for the things built to be craved: chocolate, crisps, pastries, fast food. The makers said it out loud: Lay's best-known slogan was "betcha can't eat just one". Fighting a craving head on is the plan that fails.
Why willpower is the wrong tool
Start with the word "tempt". It comes from the Latin temptare, to handle, to try, to test. A temptation is a test, and nobody says you have to sit it.
Self-control looks like resisting. In practice it looks like not needing to. Across six sets of findings and 2,274 people, those with better self-control did less resisting in daily life. They had built habits that carried them past the temptation before it started.
Even the famous marshmallow children knew this. (The first version of that test had no marshmallows in it. The treats on the table were two animal cookies or five pretzel sticks.) The preschoolers holding out for the second treat covered their eyes, put their heads down on their arms and made up games. Their trick was not looking.
And temptation is constant. When 205 adults carried beepers for a week, they logged 7,827 moments of wanting something, five or six a day each. The ones that clashed with a goal were resisted with uneven success. The job is to have fewer of them.
For years the textbook picture was that self-control drains through the day like a battery. Then 23 labs ran the classic test again with 2,141 people between them, and the effect all but disappeared. "My willpower ran out" is a poor account of the evening biscuit. The biscuit being within reach is a better one.
The newest evidence comes from a pharmacy. Thirty adults with obesity given semaglutide, the weight-loss injection, for twelve weeks ate 24% less, had fewer cravings and lost some of their taste for fatty food. Nobody had lectured them about discipline. It is a medicine with costs of its own and no part of this plan. What it shows is that a craving is biology more than character.
Biology can be worked on, and so can the room you are standing in. Six ways to do it follow.
1. Feed your body what it's asking for
A properly fed body stops asking. An underfed one keeps looking, and the thing it's looking for is mostly protein.
Twenty-two lean adults ate for four days at a time from menus that looked and tasted alike and differed in one hidden way: the share of protein. When protein was cut from 15% of the food to 10%, they ate 12% more calories, most of it savoury snacks between meals. They ate more, chasing protein, and still came up a little short of it.
The modern diet does that dilution for us. Among 9,042 Americans, the more ultra-processed food people ate (the factory-made kind, built from refined ingredients and additives), the thinner the protein in their diet got, from 18% down to 13%. Their protein intake stayed about the same, and their calories climbed.
In a ward where 20 adults ate ultra-processed food for two weeks and whole food for two, they ate about 500 calories a day more on the processed menu. All of the extra was carbohydrate and fat. The protein was identical. is a whole book on why that food is so hard to stop eating.
Cutting the carbohydrate pulls the same way. When 270 adults with obesity followed a low-carb or a low-fat diet for two years, the low-carb group's cravings for starches fell further, and so did their liking for sugary food. Keto and carnivore push that lever harder.
Be careful if you take insulin or tablets that lower blood sugar, because eating far less carbohydrate can drop it too low; have your medicine reviewed before a big change.
There is a limit to all this. A craving is a poor guide to which nutrient you need. Take the chocolate craving that arrives with a period, often put down to hormones or a missing mineral. Women born outside the United States reported it about half as often as women whose parents were born there, which points to custom more than chemistry.
Pregnancy is the other time cravings climb. Reviewers went through the usual explanations, hormones, a missing nutrient, something active in the food, and found little support for any of them. Cravings in pregnancy turn up across cultures, and the foods wanted change from one culture to the next.
One craving does report a shortage: wanting to chew ice or paper is a recognised, if less common, sign of anaemia from low iron.
A medicine can turn appetite up as well. Steroid tablets such as prednisolone can make you hungrier, and appetite settles once the course is over.
Build every meal around meat, fish or eggs, and see what happens to the snacking.
2. Keep your blood sugar steady
Twelve overweight young men drank two milkshakes on different days, the same in calories, protein, fat and taste. One was made with fast carbohydrate and one with slow. Four hours after the fast one, their blood sugar was lower, they were hungrier, and the brain's reward and craving centre was busier. The craving was manufactured by what came before it.
Is there a supplement for it? Chromium picolinate is the usual candidate, sold as a slimming aid. Reviewers pooled nine tests in 622 overweight adults. The difference in weight came to about a kilo after three to four months, which they called of debatable relevance, and they found no reliable evidence that it works or that it is safe.
When a craving hits mid-afternoon, look back at lunch.
3. Protect your sleep
Sixteen adults lived in a lab while their sleep was cut short for five nights, the length of a working week. They ate more than they burned, above all after dinner, and gained 0.82 kg in those five days.
Treat a short night as a warning about tomorrow evening, and decide the evening's food in advance.
4. Take the pressure down
Among 619 adults, long-running stress went with stronger food cravings, and stronger cravings went with a higher body weight. Part of what stress did to weight ran through the craving.
The food we reach for does less than we credit it with. People watched upsetting films and were then given their own comfort food, another food, or nothing at all. Their mood recovered as much with nothing. The comfort was time.
A walk has a result behind it. Twenty-five regular chocolate eaters went three days without it, then took a brisk fifteen-minute walk on one day and sat still on another. After the walk their urge for chocolate was lower, and their blood pressure rose less when they were put under stress and handed a bar to unwrap.
When the day has been bad, walk for fifteen minutes before you open a cupboard.
5. Move the food
People eat what is most convenient and visible. If the snacks are within reach, they will be eaten. Across 12 tests and 1,098 people, placing food farther away cut how much of it was eaten, and the farther it went, the bigger the cut. Fewer options on offer pointed the same way, less firmly. The certainty is rated low, and the direction never wavers.
Storing things in inconvenient places works for the same reason, and the most inconvenient place of all is the shop.
Shops know all this. When six British supermarket chains cut back the sweets, chocolate and crisps at their checkouts, purchases of those small packets fell by about 17% straight away. A year on they were still about 15% lower, though that later figure is less firm.
Go in fed. Ninety-four students shopped in a virtual supermarket. The impulsive ones bought the most calories, most of all from snacks, and only when they were hungry.
Size works the same way. In 58 tests on 6,603 people, bigger portions, bigger packets and bigger plates all meant more eaten.
Pictures count as food. Over 45 sets of findings and 3,292 people, how strongly someone reacted to the sight of food predicted how much they ate and how much weight they gained. Pictures and videos did the job as well as the real thing, and better than smell. Your phone is part of your kitchen.
A screen at the table costs you twice. Across 24 tests, people who ate while distracted ate a little more at that meal and noticeably more later.
Move yourself, too. In the week of beepers, how well people held out depended on where they were: on whether they had been drinking, and on whether the people around them had already given in.
The oldest plan of this kind is Odysseus's. He wanted to hear the Sirens and knew the song would cost him his reason. So he stopped his crew's ears with wax and had himself tied to the mast. He used no willpower at all, only rope.
Today's rope has a timer on it. A will not reopen until the hours you set have run down.
Put the thing you overeat on the highest shelf, in a box, behind something. Better still, stop bringing it home, and shop after a meal.
6. Plan what you will eat
A plan beats a prohibition. Decide in advance, in the form "if it's the afternoon and I want something, then I'll have this". Across 23 tests of plans like that, they worked well for adding a good food and less well for banning a bad one. Give the craving somewhere to go. A boiled egg will do, or with no sugar and no sweetener in it.
Deciding early helps for the same reason. Lunches ordered in advance came in about 100 calories lighter than lunches ordered on the spot.
What about a small daily treat to stop the craving building? It tends to do the opposite. Cravings follow how often you eat a food more than how much, so a square of chocolate every day keeps the daily craving alive. A planned treat once a week is a different thing, and it holds.
Write one if-then for your worst moment of the day, and move the treat from daily to weekly.
When one arrives anyway
Some will. Ninety-eight students carried a clear box of chocolates for 48 hours with orders to leave them alone. For the ones most easily swayed by food, noticing the urge and letting it pass worked better than fighting it or distracting themselves. For the least swayed it backfired, so keep it for the strong cravings.
Name the craving, watch it, and do nothing about it until it eases.
When a craving is an addiction
Some cravings are more than a habit. Caffeine is the clearest case: the pull towards cola or coffee is partly a dependence, with a withdrawal to prove it. Alcohol is another.
For food the argument is still running, and it is an old one: the phrase "food addiction" was first used in a journal in 1956, and the journal was about alcohol. For sugar by itself there is little evidence of addiction in people. The engineered mix of refined carbohydrate and fat is another matter, and on a standard questionnaire about one person in five, in groups that lean towards women and heavier people, reports the pattern of an addiction: eating more than they meant to, failing to cut down, carrying on in spite of the harm. Reviewers have argued that these foods meet the same tests once used to class tobacco as addictive.
If that pattern is yours, the rules change. "Everything in moderation" is advice for people who can moderate. With a food you keep losing to, the clean break is often the easier road, the same as with cigarettes.
Will banning it make you want it more? For a while, yes: going without one particular food for a short spell does raise the craving for it. Then it turns. Across eight groups of people with obesity who ate less for twelve weeks or more, cravings went down, for sweet, fatty, starchy and fast food alike. A craving is learned, and it can be unlearned.
What about the old idea that we crave what we're allergic to? Nothing solid stands behind it. Milk and wheat do release opioid-like fragments as they are digested, with no proven effect in people. If a food makes you ill and you still keep going back to it, look at the pattern above.
And if eating comes in large, fast, secret bouts followed by shame, that is binge eating disorder. It is a recognised condition with treatment, and it deserves help.
Fix the pattern
Cravings follow a pattern, and willpower only meets them at the end of it. Everything above works earlier, on the meal, the night and the room that come before a craving, and far fewer of them turn up. Give it time: a new habit took 66 days on average to become automatic, and anything from 18 to 254.
The students who reached their goals had no more strength than the rest. They had less to resist. Start with the cupboard.
Is it always something sweet? The Hidden Science of Sugar Cravings — where a sweet tooth comes from, why it strikes in the evening, and ten ways to quiet it.
Does the craving land a few hours after you eat? How to Fix Blood Sugar Spikes Naturally — what a spike does, and nine ways to flatten it.
Know someone who blames their willpower every time the biscuits win? Send them this. The biscuits had help.
Disclaimer: This article is general information. For advice about your own health, talk to a qualified health professional. If your mood has been low for weeks or you're having thoughts of harming yourself, reach out for help today.
Affiliate Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, All For Life earns from qualifying purchases, at no extra cost to you. We only link to products we would recommend without the commission.
Sources
Milyavskaya M, Inzlicht M (2017). What’s So Great About Self-Control? Examining the Importance of Effortful Self-Control and Temptation in Predicting Real-Life Depletion and Goal Attainment. Social Psychological and Personality Science 8(6):603–611. doi.org/10.1177/1948550616679237
Wiktionary. crave. en.wiktionary.org
Wikipedia. Lay's. en.wikipedia.org
Wiktionary. tempt. en.wiktionary.org
Galla BM, Duckworth AL (2015). More than resisting temptation: Beneficial habits mediate the relationship between self-control and positive life outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 109(3):508–525. doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000026
Wikipedia. Stanford marshmallow experiment. en.wikipedia.org
Hofmann W, Baumeister RF, Förster G, Vohs KD (2012). Everyday temptations: An experience sampling study of desire, conflict, and self-control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 102(6):1318–1335. doi.org/10.1037/a0026545
Hagger MS, Chatzisarantis NLD, Alberts H, et al. (2016). A Multilab Preregistered Replication of the Ego-Depletion Effect. Perspectives on Psychological Science 11(4):546–573. doi.org/10.1177/1745691616652873
Blundell J, Finlayson G, Axelsen M, et al. (2017). Effects of once-weekly semaglutide on appetite, energy intake, control of eating, food preference and body weight in subjects with obesity. Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism 19(9):1242–1251. doi.org/10.1111/dom.12932
Gosby AK, Conigrave AD, Lau NS, et al. (2011). Testing Protein Leverage in Lean Humans: A Randomised Controlled Experimental Study. PLoS One 6(10):e25929. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0025929
Martínez Steele E, Raubenheimer D, Simpson SJ, Baraldi LG, Monteiro CA (2018). Ultra-processed foods, protein leverage and energy intake in the USA. Public Health Nutrition 21(1):114–124. doi.org/10.1017/S1368980017001574
Hall KD, Ayuketah A, Brychta R, et al. (2019). Ultra-Processed Diets Cause Excess Calorie Intake and Weight Gain: An Inpatient Randomized Controlled Trial of Ad Libitum Food Intake. Cell Metabolism 30(1):67–77.e3. doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2019.05.008
Martin CK, Rosenbaum D, Han H, et al. (2011). Change in food cravings, food preferences, and appetite during a low-carbohydrate and low-fat diet. Obesity 19(10):1963–1970. doi.org/10.1038/oby.2011.62
NHS. Low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia). nhs.uk
Hormes JM, Niemiec MA (2017). Does culture create craving? Evidence from the case of menstrual chocolate craving. PLoS One 12(7):e0181445. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0181445
Orloff NC, Hormes JM (2014). Pickles and ice cream! Food cravings in pregnancy: hypotheses, preliminary evidence, and directions for future research. Frontiers in Psychology 5:1076. doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2014.01076
NHS. Iron deficiency anaemia. nhs.uk
NHS. Side effects of prednisolone tablets and liquid. nhs.uk
Lennerz BS, Alsop DC, Holsen LM, et al. (2013). Effects of dietary glycemic index on brain regions related to reward and craving in men. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 98(3):641–647. doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.113.064113
Tian H, Guo X, Wang X, et al. (2013). Chromium picolinate supplementation for overweight or obese adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (11):CD010063. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD010063.pub2
Markwald RR, Melanson EL, Smith MR, et al. (2013). Impact of insufficient sleep on total daily energy expenditure, food intake, and weight gain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 110(14):5695–5700. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1216951110
Chao A, Grilo CM, White MA, Sinha R (2015). Food cravings mediate the relationship between chronic stress and body mass index. Journal of Health Psychology 20(6):721–729. doi.org/10.1177/1359105315573448
Wagner HS, Ahlstrom B, Redden JP, Vickers Z, Mann T (2014). The myth of comfort food. Health Psychology 33(12):1552–1557. doi.org/10.1037/hea0000068
Taylor AH, Oliver AJ (2009). Acute effects of brisk walking on urges to eat chocolate, affect, and responses to a stressor and chocolate cue. An experimental study. Appetite 52(1):155–160. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2008.09.004
Hollands GJ, Carter P, Anwer S, et al. (2019). Altering the availability or proximity of food, alcohol, and tobacco products to change their selection and consumption. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (9):CD012573. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD012573.pub3
Ejlerskov KT, Sharp SJ, Stead M, et al. (2018). Supermarket policies on less-healthy food at checkouts: Natural experimental evaluation using interrupted time series analyses of purchases. PLOS Medicine 15(12):e1002712. doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1002712
Nederkoorn C, Guerrieri R, Havermans RC, Roefs A, Jansen A (2009). The interactive effect of hunger and impulsivity on food intake and purchase in a virtual supermarket. International Journal of Obesity 33(8):905–912. doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2009.98
Hollands GJ, Shemilt I, Marteau TM, et al. (2015). Portion, package or tableware size for changing selection and consumption of food, alcohol and tobacco. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (9):CD011045. doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD011045.pub2
Boswell RG, Kober H (2016). Food cue reactivity and craving predict eating and weight gain: a meta-analytic review. Obesity Reviews 17(2):159–177. doi.org/10.1111/obr.12354
Robinson E, Aveyard P, Daley A, et al. (2013). Eating attentively: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 97(4):728–742. doi.org/10.3945/ajcn.112.045245
Wikipedia. Ulysses pact. en.wikipedia.org
Adriaanse MA, Vinkers CDW, De Ridder DTD, Hox JJ, De Wit JBF (2011). Do implementation intentions help to eat a healthy diet? A systematic review and meta-analysis of the empirical evidence. Appetite 56(1):183–193. doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2010.10.012
VanEpps EM, Downs JS, Loewenstein G (2016). Advance Ordering for Healthier Eating? Field Experiments on the Relationship between the Meal Order–Consumption Time Delay and Meal Content. Journal of Marketing Research 53(3):369–380. doi.org/10.1509/jmr.14.0234
Apolzan JW, Myers CA, Champagne CM, et al. (2017). Frequency of consuming foods predicts changes in cravings for those foods during weight loss: the POUNDS Lost study. Obesity 25(8):1343–1348. doi.org/10.1002/oby.21895
Forman EM, Hoffman KL, McGrath KB, et al. (2007). A comparison of acceptance- and control-based strategies for coping with food cravings: An analog study. Behaviour Research and Therapy 45(10):2372–2386. doi.org/10.1016/j.brat.2007.04.004
Juliano LM, Griffiths RR (2004). A critical review of caffeine withdrawal: empirical validation of symptoms and signs, incidence, severity, and associated features. Psychopharmacology 176(1):1–29. doi.org/10.1007/s00213-004-2000-x
Wikipedia. Food addiction. en.wikipedia.org
Westwater ML, Fletcher PC, Ziauddeen H (2016). Sugar addiction: the state of the science. European Journal of Nutrition 55(Suppl 2):55–69. doi.org/10.1007/s00394-016-1229-6
Pursey K, Stanwell P, Gearhardt A, Collins C, Burrows T (2014). The Prevalence of Food Addiction as Assessed by the Yale Food Addiction Scale: A Systematic Review. Nutrients 6(10):4552–4590. doi.org/10.3390/nu6104552
Gearhardt AN, DiFeliceantonio AG (2023). Highly processed foods can be considered addictive substances based on established scientific criteria. Addiction 118(4):589–598. doi.org/10.1111/add.16065
Meule A (2020). The Psychology of Food Cravings: the Role of Food Deprivation. Current Nutrition Reports 9(3):251–257. doi.org/10.1007/s13668-020-00326-0
Kahathuduwa CN, Binks M, Martin CK, Dawson JA (2017). Extended calorie restriction suppresses overall and specific food cravings: a systematic review and a meta-analysis. Obesity Reviews 18(10):1122–1135. doi.org/10.1111/obr.12566
Wikipedia. Casomorphin. en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia. Gluten exorphin. en.wikipedia.org
NHS. Binge eating disorder: overview. nhs.uk
Lally P, van Jaarsveld CHM, Potts HWW, Wardle J (2010). How are habits formed: modelling habit formation in the real world. European Journal of Social Psychology 40(6):998–1009. doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.674